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{{SpaceMarinesPortal}}
[[Image:SpartanTanKArt.jpg|thumb|right|350px|[[Death Guard]] Spartan Assault Tank]]
The '''Spartan Assault Tank''' was a large heavy transport designed during the [[Great Crusade]] and [[Horus Heresy]] to carry a full squad of [[Terminator]]-armored [[Space Marines|Marines]].
==Overview==
Originally designed to get through the ''Ring of Death'' surrounding the city of [[Aries Primus]] on [[Mars]], the standard Land Raider at the time could not transport Terminators{{Fn|1}}. Such was the lethality of the ''Ring of Death'' plasma defence systems, that even with use of the Spartans, only the fraction of Terminator squads could hope to survive the advance.{{Fn|4a}} The design is based off the famous [[Land Raider]].{{Fn|2}}
The original Spartan had the standard [[Land Raider]] armament, two [[twin-linked]] [[lascannon]]s (heavy bolters were not standard then) but also mounted either a [[heavy bolter]] or [[flamer|heavy flamer]] on a turret on top. It was widely spread after the Heresy, but disappeared when the standard Land Raider was re-designed to carry [[Terminator]]s.{{Fn|1}}
The Spartan design used today features the twin hull-mounted heavy bolters seen on contemporary Land Raider designs, as well as a pair of sponsons fitted with a deadly quad-lascannon battery each. It is able to transport 25 Space Marines in [[power armour]] and has the largest transport capacity of any dedicated transport vehicle used in the Imperium save the [[Gorgon Armoured Assault Transport|Gorgon]]{{Fn|3}}. Additionally, it is considerably faster than other Land Raider variants despite its increased size, due to its reactor-driven motive drive systems and secrets{{Fn|2}}.
Many Space Marine [[Chapter]]s still maintain these huge war machines as part of their arsenals and deploy them into warzones where even the mighty Land Raider would be torn asunder. The Spartan is mainly popular in such Chapters who possess many Terminator suits, such as the [[Minotaurs]].{{Fn|4a}} [[Chaos Space Marine]] warbands still operate Spartans that date back to the [[Great Crusade]], with most belonging to the original [[Traitor Legion]]s.{{Fn|5}}
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==Known Named Spartan Tanks==
*''[[Sire of Calth]]'' - — of the [[Ultramarines]]{{Fn|4c}}
==Images==
==Related articles==
